Starry Heavens
by Saf Dawnheart
Summary: My heart - my life - will never be the same. — Gray/Silver, unconnected oneshots.
1. i've got a secret

Okay, so I've got writers block for Aftermath, and life has kept me from actually writing more on it. (Yes, unlike most of the people on this site, I have a life, and do not wish to squander it writing fanfics that no one probably even reads anymore.) BUT! But but but. I have a little gift for everyone waiting, and for all Graystripe x Silverstream shippers out there: A collection of Gray x Silver snippets! FWEE! (considering I used to hate this pairing, be thankful) These were inspired by the English translation of Starry Heavens, from Tales of Symphonia (If you haven't heard that song, LISTEN TO IT, and then find the English translation. It fits), and the first one is sort of based on the thought of what the two of them are surely thinking during their (ahem) _courtship._ Enjoy!

* * *

They both know they can never tell.

He's certain that Fireheart already knows – certain not in the relief of one who has released a heavy burden from one's shoulders, but certain in the kind of sureness that latches icy claws onto one's stomach and flips it about until the terror and nausea is overwhelming. She doesn't have the misfortune of feeling the same fear as he, but somehow having her own secret safe and bound – kept from even Mistyfoot, her best friend, her closest confidante – adds to the tension.

Yet somehow there's a thrill to the fear, a certain sensation like no other in sneaking around in the shadows. Somehow they both can find the courage to keep their mouths shut – although for him it's a little hard considering his outgoing nature and closeness to his friends – and be together.

Because they both know telling the truth of their illicit romance, praying the consequences will be quick and painless, will mean social death and possible even exile for the both of them.

It must always be a secret.

Normally secrets are great fun for the sharers. Normally secrets are a cause for joy and laughter, and not hot gossip as its negative side would lead some to believe. Normally when someone outside of the enlightened group asks, with a tilt of the head and a gleam of curiosity in the eye, asks about what has been shared, the cats who know exchange a glance and laugh.

The secret shared between these two lovers, though, isn't the fun kind; the kind to joke about when insomnia drives one to the need for conversation.

Never has been, and – somewhat to their everlasting sorrow – never can be.

But of course they like to deny that. But of course they keep it going, even though the only path it can go down leads to misery.

Is it fun, to sneak around in the iciness of the shadows, to keep secrets from their closest friends and family, to make up excuses just to get a slight agonizing glimpse of one another? _Holy mother of StarClan,_ no.

Does it provide them with the proper thrills, chills, murmurs and breathy whispers of love as they let themselves be dragged by the undertow of passion and pleasure? Perhaps.

But they know they care about one another. More than the earth loves the warmth of the sun, this is certain.

And maybe that will be enough to get them through in the end.

* * *

So? Good? Great? Awesome? Flame-worthy? Tell me in a review. The next drabble will probably be up soon, considering I've got it about half done and a million other ideas percolating in my head. 


	2. please just tell me why

Squee! I actually finished this next one! (The ending's kinda bad, but wtf-ever, work with me here) This one was actually inspired by the first one, and I think you'll see why. (Unless you are a total neanderthal. Whoop, did I just say that out loud? XD)

Oh, and I got ONE review. That's okay, I guess, but I'd really appreciate it if I knew more people (BESIDES anonymous reviewers who are too lazy to leave an email address/get an account) were reading this. Keep in mind that I still have anonymous reviews enabled, but it just bugs me that, like, ALL the reviews I get for Aftermath are anonymous reviewers. Just sayin'. It'd get annoying after a while, right? (cough)getoffyourlazyassesandgetanaccount(cough)

* * *

"Why is our love forbidden?"

She tilts her head up to gaze at his face, shock clear in her emerald eyes that are now barely a mouse-length away from his, as though he's insinuating something just a bit short of acceptable.

He hates it when she looks at him like that.

"Silverstream, it's just a question," he adds hastily, hoping this will redeem himself. "I'm curious…"

He feels her muscles relax and a sigh ripple through her sleek, silver-pelted body. "I don't know, Graystripe. It's just always been in the warrior code, that warriors from two different Clans can never fall in love. It's a rule."

_Is it a rule to control our own hearts, _Graystripe wants to yowl at her, _or to let our leaders control them for us?_

But he doesn't say anything, only returns her soft exhalation of breath as he lets his tail wrap around her slender yet incredibly muscular form. She doesn't resist, but merely rubs her pelt closer to his, and they lie in one another's embrace for a moment before Graystripe's voice breaks the silence.

"But who _made_ that rule? Who made it so that we have to lie and make excuses to those who think they know us?"

Silverstream chuckles, and the soft, bitter quality of her voice makes him flinch. "I don't know, but I sincerely wish I could tear their throat out right now."

Her words peal out into the night air, echoing slightly around the smooth gray slate of Sunningrocks, and, empty as the threat is, it dumps the young couple into silence again.

At last Silverstream speaks, her tone quiet again.

"Will we be alright?"

Graystripe's tail-tip twitches, but he doesn't quite flinch as she asks the question that seems to plague his conscience night and day; prodding him at every turn; taunting him; feigningly curious but somehow malicious in its intentions as well, like a kit bent on completing some wicked task.

Such a blunt, vile comparison, the young gray tom realizes, but true as can be.

Finally, since Silverstream is still gazing at him expectantly, he lowers his head slightly and lets the truth free.

"I don't know, Silverstream."

_Silence._

_

* * *

_Me: (ranting to my muse Specklepaw, an OC from Aftermath) OMSC, I TOLD you that ending was bad! 

Specklepaw: ...It's not even your fault. You couldn't think of a good way to end it.

Me: NOT HELPING! Oh, please review, even though the ending was bad. Xx And you get CYBER Silverstream plushies. **CYBER.** (sigh) It's not a hard concept to get on other people's stories, but on mine it's like "How are you going to get the plushies to everyone?" It's like "Um, they are CYBER, you morons. Read PROPERLY".

Specklepaw: In the words of a not-so-wise video game char, are you done rambling?

Me: Wha? Oh. Yeah. Review! (points to box of Silverstream plushies)


	3. from the day we met

Yeah, I'm updating this a lot. Got a problem with that? xD Well, my newfound love (or at least fascination) with this pairing fuels all these updates. Plus for some reason, I find these pointless little drabbles easier to do than chappies of Aftermath. 0.o Anyway, I've already got this AND the one after it done. (I know it may seem this is being updated a lot, but it's only because I've got like 3 weeks of vacation...)

And oh, mother of shnikeys. (inside joke, don't ask) My mom knows I've been rooting through my presents under the tree. xX (dead) Eh, well, the only thing she said is that she's not putting any presents out until the last minute. It's better that way, I guess...

Anywho, could we get even more reviews for this one, even though I don't think it turned out as well as I would've liked? (puppy dog eyes)

* * *

He remembers the first time he saw her – swimming, her powerful paws churning through the water in total disregard of its icy quality. He remembers the terror he felt at the time; being tossed and turned like a mouse caught in a massive paw with the current. He couldn't breathe, his air was nearly gone, knocked out of him by the merciless unrelenting talons of the river.

He remembers he could barely see, could barely think, and just when conscience was about to slip between his claws for good, he remembers feeling a pair of jaws close around the back of his neck.

He remembers his body being thrust through the hole in the ice where he had first fallen through; remembers how Fireheart and his rescuer finally managed to get him back on land, where he proceeded to gasp and heave until sweet, sweet air had filled his lungs and his vision was clear of water droplets so he could see his savior.

What he saw tore the recently-acquired breath from his throat.

He hadn't expected his rescuer to be a RiverClan cat.

And certainly not a female one as beautiful as this one.

Her eyes, glittering with annoyance at the time, seemed to bore a hole into him with their fierce green light. For a moment he could only stare at her, his vision partly blurred but still able to catch the sheen of her pale incandescent pelt – plastered to her body from the freezing river water but still shimmering in the sunlight.

"You idiot!" she had hissed. "What are you doing on my territory?"

Her voice was ferocious, angry, her eyes gleaming with that same annoyed jade stare.

Not exactly love at first sight.

And yet, he remembers, he found himself looking back over his shoulder repeatedly, ignoring the teasing comments of Cinderpaw and the apprehensive glances of Fireheart. He remembers that his gaze was constantly drawn to Silverstream's sleek form, watching her slip through the water and to the other side with the aquatic grace of a fish.

He turned around and felt a sudden prickling at the back of his neck, the sort of feeling one gets when they are being watched. His head whipped to look behind him, but nothing close by seemed to be the culprit.

However, his eyes moved toward the other side of the river when a flicker of movement caught his attention, and he just managed to catch the silver she-cat jerking her head away before trotting into the RiverClan bushes.

He remembers the smile he had felt gracing his features, flitting across his eyes and mouth if only for an instant, even though he had been soaked and chilled to the bone.

* * *

And because I'm feeling generous, here's a little spoiler for the next one: HE TELLS HER HE LOVES HER. Le gasp. xD 


	4. i love you

Okay, I was originally going to wait until I got more reviews, but seeing as no one is reviewing, I decided I'd give you a little bribe. (motions at this new chappie) Anyway, I guess only ONE Silverstream plushie to **Kewix**, my only reviewer. Splee?

Anyway, here you few readers go. Good, old-fashioned Gray x Silver semi-fluff.

**

* * *

**

"I love you."

She stares at him, chest heaving, her back to the tree and her eyes terrified. He knows she feels the same way – _why else would she mew and and murmur in pleasure whenever their bodies come into contact?_ – and yet he still holds his breath, doubtful, like an uncertain kit waiting to know whether or not they have permission to do something.

Of course the thing he wants permission to do doesn't begin to be described in words.

Her green gaze bores into his, glittering with fear and something else he knows she's too proud to admit are tears. Her pain becomes his own, stabbing into his chest like the sharpest branch flung from the fiercest storm.

_"I love you," _he repeats, softer this time, letting the precious three words float out into the icy air, wanting to hear them once again before they're lost forever in the void of the past.

Suddenly he wants to speak those delicate, those ethereal syllables over and over, not just to let her know how much he cares but to hear the sweetness of them. It's strange, but true, just as life is strange but true.

And Silverstream as well – strange but beautiful.

At least to him.

"Graystripe…" When she speaks her voice nearly cracks, but to her credit she maintains her composure. She speaks tonelessly, and yet the passion contained in that one word, that one _name_ makes the tom in question shiver with pleasure and desire.

That was what love was, he had learned over these illicit outings with her. Love was not a warm feeling. It was tingles all along your spine when you were touched; a dizzy, excited, lightheaded feeling at every caress; a conflicting maelstrom of emotions that surged inside you seemingly every moment.

But not warm.

For Graystripe, love was tender, sweet, powerful.

But it was not warm.

For him it was also a terrible achy physical misery, and he hated that negative side to it. Yet it was always satisfying when he actually got to be _with_ her, got to feel that soft pristine fur and that slender body against him.

She gazes at him now and he knows his confession is not an empty one.

"Graystripe…" she begins again. "I… um… I love you too."

Scratch that. The warmth of love is there.

And they don't even touch now, at knowing for sure of one another's feelings. But tawny eyes gaze into chartreuse, seeming to say more than words could ever convey.

* * *

I know Graystripe was a tad OOC in this, but this is how I imagine him confessing his feelings: impulsive, abrupt and anxious. And I think Silverstream would be awkward at realizing she feels the same way back. 

Oh, and to all Aftermath fans, I'm working on the newest chappie of that, as a little Christmas gift! YAY! (Aftermath fans cheer) But to all readers of this story, REVIEW! (whips out Lloyd's Eternal Sword) OR FACE TEH WRATH OF MAH SWORDS!!!! MWAHAHA!  
Lloyd: HEY! Give that back!  
Me: Aw, crap. Well, review and get a Graystripe plushie! (flees)


	5. maybe pretending can save us

Happy (early) New Year! The bad news is, school starts back up for me on Thursday, so I won't be able to update as often. (tear) The good news is... well, I updated. Shouldn't that be good enough for ya?

Oh, and no more review responses. Seeing as that takes from the actual impact of the drabble/oneshot thingy (did that make sense...? 0.o), I'm taking them from the other chaps as well. I doubt anyone wants to read what I think of other people. (Seeing as how my opinions of others are pretty much all derogatory anyway... Damn, did I just type that? -chased by rabid crowd of people who just want to kill me because I don't like them-)

* * *

Silverstream used to love to pretend, this interest dating back to when she was little more than a tiny kit, tumbling over her companions in the nursery and fighting with sheathed claws. With the then-called Mistypaw, who was and is her best friend, she would always play a game of make-believe – with Mistypaw's brother Stonepaw meowing in protest at always having to be the loving mate, of course.

Silverstream used to love these fantasies – of sensitive toms ready to do anything to protect their better halves, of she-cats-in-distress who were always saved by the aforementioned males. She used to love to imagine herself caught up in such a love.

However, there comes a time when one has to wake up from this dream world and face the harshness of reality.

Silverstream did fall in love – of course she did, she had been almost brought up prepared for that. Beautiful silver-and-black tabby pelt that shed the river water and was as smooth as fish scales; deep green eyes that seemed to look into others as though they were her reflection in a pool – yes, it was obvious that the leader's daughter had been meant for love.

But she never expected to fall for someone outside her own Clan.

To some it might've seemed out-of-the-blue. To others it might've seemed taboo. To most of the cats who followed the warrior code, it was completely and utterly unacceptable, the equivalent of condemning yourself to wherever the spirits of evil cats sailed when they died.

To Silverstream, it involved more pretending. And not the fun, loving-and-sensitive-toms-save-their-mates-and-live-happily-ever-after kind.

The kind that, if she makes the slightest slipup in the lie, could cost her not only her Clan respect, but also perhaps her lover's life.

So yes, there's definitely more pressure, more that could cost her riding on this dangerous game they play. There's definitely more that both of them could lose in this not-so-fun make-believe pretend.

Now, when she looks back at how she used to love this sort of thing, Silverstream can't even recognize the carefree, reckless young kit she sees in the eye of her memories. She finds it hard to believe that the young female who always got playfully reproachful glances from the elders is the same as the falsely-happy, lovestruck young she-cat she sees whenever she looks into a puddle.

She realizes she _hates_ it now – running around in the shadows, cutting corners and trying to be slippery as a snake just to see him. Sometimes she wonders if that's the reason why different-Clan relationships got banned in the first place.

Sometimes she can even fool herself into believing that the lies are true.

But of course they aren't. That should be the fun of pretending. Right?

_Why not?_ is her dully passive reply to the question.

* * *

The last sentence reminds me of me when I don't want to answer a question. XD 


	6. reading the words in your eyes

(singing) Haaaave you heard the news that you're deeeeeeead?... (stops) Yeah, pretty self-explanatory. (glomped by all her fans) Ow, get the hell off me, will ya? Anyway, the reason I haven't had time to update? One word: REAL LIFE. So that's two. I'll say it twice then: real life, real life. I had to finish up school (high school next year, oof), and then I had to go to swimcamp (Swimming 6 hours a day? Yeah, never again, eh? -sigh-). I started this drabble in, like, February (sweatdrop), and I would've completed it sooner, but I didn't have time until now. So, er, yeah, now that it's summer I should have more time to write when I want to. Disregarding the set number of screen hours my dad set for me, of course. (sigh) Anyways, sorry if this one's bad. It's late (okay, maybe not THAT late, but I have to swim at 7 tomorrow morning), and I had to do this in a hurry.

But I still updated, didn't I? SO BE HAPPY, DAMN IT! XD

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me."

"I'm being honest!"

"Uh-_huh."_

Silverstream could only stare dubiously at him, one eyebrow cocked and head tilted in what could almost be interpreted as an inquisitive manner. However, the way the emerald eyes glittered was anything but inquisitive – skeptical, incredulous and the like, as well as with a tint of warm affection – as she looked at the long-haired gray ThunderClan cat that stood in front of her. The long-haired gray ThunderClan cat, she would sometimes think playfully, that she'd had the not-so-misfortune of falling in love with.

Said gray tom was currently gazing wide-eyed at her, yellow eyes almost adorably wide, and yet he was trying not to say what he was truly thinking. Which was how pretty Silverstream looked with her head tilted like that.

"So," Silverstream began, restraining a _mrrow_ of laughter, as she rose from her sitting position on the gray slate of Sunningrocks and began to pace around him. "Let me get this straight: You saw Sandpaw watching Fireheart… _that _way."

"Yes," Graystripe growled, eyes narrowed in a miserably failed attempt at exasperation toward the silvery she-cat. "I will repeat myself for the tenth time – I was coming in from patrol when I saw she was staring at him. Kinda like the way you're looking at me now."

_…mousedung. _Silverstream quickly remedied the look of obvious infatuation that she had felt spreading across her features, and replaced it with her previous bemused frown. She stopped in her tracks so she stood right in front of Graystripe, so suddenly that he blinked in surprise. Normally she wouldn't do this sort of thing, but by StarClan, she was feeling _incredibly_ bold today, if she did say so herself. "So what are you supposed to gather from the way I was just looking at you?"

Graystripe's dark pupils flitted away in a shifty-eyed look. "Oh… nothing really."

Silverstream raised a furry eyebrow. "It sure didn't sound like 'nothing' just now."

"Seriously, do you enjoy making something out of nothing?"

"Maybe I do."

They mock glared at each other. And in that moment the two seemed to read into each other's gazes: yet another verification of their growing intimacy.

_Yeah… maybe I _do_ read too much into things._

Graystripe narrowed his eyes mischievously. _Aha, acknowledgment at last._

Silverstream sighed. _But you love me anyway, don't you?_

_Now, my dear, you already know the answer to that._

_Yes. I do._

* * *

Feh, cliche ending, but to quote a stupid vid I saw on YouTube: If I may be so blunt, who gives a shit? 

So next drabble is going to be from a surprise PoV. All I will say is that it's one of the cats involved in Graystripe/Silverstream's life. Which one it is (Gray or Silver), you'll have to figure it out... mweheheh...


	7. watching from the sidelines

Okay, I like the revamps to the site and everything, but what's with the "Author has written so-and-so amount of stories for insert fandom here" at the top of everyone's profile? Don't get me wrong, I like knowing what people have written about before even scrolling down, but it feels really weird. At least it doesn't piss me off like the ads next to the first part of people's profiles. xX

Anyways, I decided that we needed to get back to the "omg our love is forbidden!11" angst at once XD, so here's the newest one, with a surprise PoV, as well as a (VERY) crack pairing. Woot for randomness. Enjoy!

* * *

I see you over there, with _him._

You think I'm not watching, but I am.

Honestly, Silverstream, give me some credit, will you? You've been one of my closest friends since you were in the nursery and I was an apprentice. You're my sister's best friend. Don't act like I'm oblivious. I know love when I see it, and no matter how unbearably bitter I sound, I know you feel it for _him._

Do you remember the day you sneaked out of camp, with the rather pathetic excuse of needing to make dirt, and I followed you, just out of curiosity? I'd noticed you'd been doing this a lot – making up stories just so you could leave the RiverClan camp, sitting by the river's shore staring out into ThunderClan territory – and I wanted to know exactly what was going on.

Now I wish I hadn't.

Because whenever I see you with _him,_ making it so painfully obvious how you feel (discreet to others, but blatantly clear to me, I suppose only because I know), I find myself caught in a maelstrom that teeters between the edges of anger and sorrow.

Some days I want to just walk up to you and tell you I know – that nothing good can come of it, that your relationship with _him_ can't end well, that it'll all end in heartbreak or exile for you. But I know better than that. If I offer so much as a speck of concern, you'll just take it as hovering reminiscent of a queen to her kits and shy away even more, and StarClan knows that's the last thing I want.

So I sit on the sidelines, and watch. Watch and feel as though I'm getting ripped apart inside.

Oh, and guess what hurts the most? The fact that you chose not just a ThunderClan cat, but one of my closest friends from outside RiverClan. I could've accepted this little rendezvous of yours were it with Fireheart, or even Tigerclaw.

But no. It had to be Graystripe, right?

I mean, I understand that I can't help where your heart goes. Even I, the most stubborn cat in the world when it comes to losing precious things like this (and I flinch even now referring to you as a mere _thing_, a possession, something that can be replaced), realize that.

I've known you forever, Silverstream, even though we're still young. I've played countless games with you when you were an apprentice, humoring you and my sister – now called Mistyfoot – whenever you wanted me to participate. I was the one you came to about almost everything.

Now… am _I _being replaced?

I guess, I think to myself as I turn away from the heart-rending sight of you talking animatedly to Graystripe, my real question is:

_What are you trying to do, Silverstream?_

* * *

Yeah, uh... for those of you who couldn't be bothered to figure it out and instead want me to just tell you, the one talking is Stonefur. (scratches head) Toldja the pairing was random... but not so unbelievable if you think about it. I mean, Silverstream is/was best friends with Mistyfoot, who is Stonefur's sister, so it's not totally impossible.

At any rate... hrm. I have no clue what I'm going to make the next drabble about, and I probably won't think about it for a while, due to the Kingdom Hearts video parody I'm making. (And NO, I'm probably not going to put it up online. It's mostly for my own amusement, as well as to tinker with Windows Movie Maker. -sweatdrop-) So don't pester me to update, because, to quote my profile, I will ignore you, or sic my vampiric muses/dangerous favorite characters on you. Savvy?


	8. just another narrow escape

Hokay, so. Aside from the usual repetitive apologies (think Azmaria from Chrono Crusade, only not on my knees with my hands clasped), here's my excuse - I was visiting my cousins. Yes, my stupid cousins who couldn't care less about their animals, let alone themselves. God, I needed to get out of there or I was going to suffocate. Anywho, I was too stupid to burn a CD of my fanfics to work on with my mom's laptop, so... no updates. Sorry.

Speaking of which, man, I know I hadn't updated in a while, but did you all have to go and abandon me on the last drabble? Seriously, was it because of the pairing or what? Well, eh, here's the newest one. Only hinted GrayxSilver in this. Sorry. Oh, and it takes place between Fire and Ice and Forest of Secrets.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Warriors, I'd be one happy bitch. But, as I'm not happy, I don't own it.

**

* * *

**  
Being pinned to a tree by the ThunderClan deputy, Graystripe decides, is not a fun thing.

No… not very fun at all.

It's got nothing to do with the fact that Tigerclaw's practically breathing down his neck, or that he's got a look on his face that thoroughly hints at later injuries – though, honestly, that _is_ a contributing factor. Or that he could really use a mint plant for his breath; seriously, the tabby is about to suffocate him, it's that bad.

The only thing Graystripe is really worried about – other than that Tigerclaw's pressing him into the trunk of the tree, causing the bark to rub uncomfortably against the fur on his back, with a glare that brings up the saying "if looks can kill" – is the knowing look in the deputy's eyes.

Not playfully knowing, like apprentice to mentor when the former has just figured something out. But… sadistic, almost; as though what he knows is what will send the gray warrior's life tumbling over and over like a leaf in a storm.

Graystripe exhales sharply. _Oh, StarClan._

"So, _Graystripe_." Tigerclaw pulls back as he hisses the name with the utmost, venomous, contempt. The aforementioned tom is too busy trying to get his breath back to be relieved that the blatant violation of his personal space is over. "Would you mind telling me, if you can, what happened with you, Fireheart, and that RiverClan warrior earlier?"

_Mouse dung…_

Alright, pull it together, Graystripe. Focus. Breathe.

"Oh, that?" he manages at last, his heart pounding like a demon against his ribs. Paranoia – it is indeed a wretched thing. "Well, I just thought she deserved a break, y'know? She was beaten up pretty badly." Very badly if she was about to kill his best friend, he adds mentally.

Tigerclaw snorts. "Ah, really? And, pray tell, _why_ would you ever show mercy to a RiverClan warrior?" One eyebrow goes up above a dark-rimmed amber eye. "A female, at that?"

So if Tigerclaw didn't know by now, Graystripe would have to eat his own tail.

Well, there _was_ the slight complication that she was carrying the gray tom's offspring…

In response, though, Graystripe merely shrugs, hoping fervently that he's still got a bit of cheek left in him to squeeze past the fear. "Why don't you drag her back to camp and ask her yourself? Or, even better – take her to Yellowfang, test her for pregnancy and all." He ends this with a _mrrow_ of laughter, and instantly flinches at his voice. StarClan, does he sound pathetic.

Apparently Tigerclaw thinks so as well. He narrows his eyes – Graystripe's heart seems to stop – and then steps back, turning away to look out at camp.

The gray tom blinks at the sight of his senior: sitting with his tail curled around his front paws, watching Brackenpaw and Cinderpaw talk over a meal of rabbit. "Tigerclaw…?"

"A moon cleaning the elders' den," the tabby interrupts, without turning around. "Now get out of my sight before your disgusting face makes the punishment worse."

Graystripe blinks again and scrambles to his feet. "Uh, yeah, sure!" He inwardly thanks StarClan with every fiber of his being as he heads to the warriors' den, where Fireheart is already waiting.

Well, he muses to himself, he could've been worse.

And, not to mention…

Who said Silverstream could go without knowing about this little incident?

* * *

Damn. Longest one yet - just over a page. (I just can't keep a short little thing about Tigerclaw/star... -smirk-) And was it just me, or was there a hint of GrayxTiger at the beginning...? Holy shit, I just thought of a fanfic. (shot'd repeatedly by homophobes)

Anywho, I'm working on Acerbity, a JayxWillow type-thing, right now. Hopefully that should be up before I have to leave for Florida next weekend. Yes. MORE driving. Fun time. (waves tiny flag sarcastically)


	9. fell in love with a beautiful stranger

...yeah... I died for a while there. XD

Well, no, not really. I do have more stuff posted; it's just that the stuff is either crack pairing oneshots (refer to my Mouse/Tiger and Ash/Tawny pieces), or stuff for my favorite games. (Go read my Kingdom Hearts one if you've played KH2!)

But yeah, this fic kind of went on my neglected list, and so I decided it needed something to spice it up and hopefully get the reviewers back on board. (But HA! I WILL keep updating whether you want me to or not! So there!) I've actually thought about this concept for a while, but never put it down.

**_Disclaimer-_** If I owned Warriors, I would change the site's family tree so that _Darkstripe_ was Ashfur's father, and not Whitestorm. (Yes, Kewix, I love Dark/Brindle too.) Even though Whitestorm's awesome, but that's beside the point.

* * *

Normally a Clan cat looks forward to Gatherings; looks at them as a way to see their friends from other Clans, or a way to see what the other leaders have to say; maybe even look for weaknesses in other Clans.

Silverpaw isn't really of the first party, because this is her very first Gathering as a six-moon-old apprentice and she doesn't have any friends in other Clans yet. She's not particularly interested in the other leaders, no matter how much Stonepaw gushed about how powerful they are – the way Silverpaw sees it the other leaders are just her father's enemies, and that is that. She certainly doesn't care about flaws in the Clans.

_So,_ the young apprentice wonders, _what am I doing here?_

Whenever she looks around, Silverpaw sees how plain and shabby she looks compared to the warriors. Her black-and-silver fur still kit-soft, just getting on her fighting paws (which are even now still clumsy with kithood); and the most recent thing she's learned from her mentor is how to catch fish.

Without any older warriors or even her father to hide behind, Silverpaw recognizes how awkward she must look, and how awkward she feels.

So, as one can imagine, it was a shock to her when the unfamiliar, cheerful voice popped up behind her.

"Hi! What's your name?"

As exaggerated as it may sound, Silverpaw imagines she must've jumped about a foot in the air. Pivoting awkwardly on her heel to face the speaker, she sees a long-haired gray tom, and smells ThunderClan on him. He doesn't look too much older than she is, and his yellow eyes are currently gleaming with the light of a cat who likes who he's talking to.

"Um, hello…" Silverpaw murmured, cringing at the sound of her own voice. Normally she's so outgoing, but around this cat she's tongue-tied. _What is the _matter _with me?! _"Erm, I'm Silverpaw of RiverClan."

The ThunderClan tom _mrrow_ed in laughter. "Well, I figured _that._ I could smell the fish on you a mile off!"

Silverpaw narrowed her eyes into green slits. "Excuse me?"

"Hey, calm down." The gray cat sat back on his haunches. "I'm Graypaw."

What was she supposed to say? _Nice to meet you, even though you're of an enemy Clan? _

Strangely, the cheesy words can't come to her tongue, trapped at the back of her throat.

"I'll talk to you later, okay?" Graypaw said, just as the ThunderClan leader, an old dark gray she-cat, leaped onto the Great Rock. "The Gathering's about to start." He gives her a cat-smile. "See ya!"

Without another word, he bounds off. Silverpaw follows his stride with her eyes; sees him sit down beside a fiery ginger tom. The gray apprentice says something that causes his friend to shake his head and hit him in the side with his tail.

She realizes she should probably be going to her own Clan as well. After a moment of trying to get to her leaden paws, she manages to do so and pads over to sit beside Blackclaw, RiverClan's newest warrior.

As time goes by and she becomes Silverstream, the she-cat doesn't really think too much on the strange ThunderClan tom she spoke to that day. But an incident by the river changes her mind.

_I know him from somewhere… _

And then she finally puts her paw on it, and chuckles slightly to herself, despite the fact that she's lying wide awake in the warriors' den.

Cheesy as it sounds, perhaps it was fate that threw them back together again.

* * *

The odd thing was, this was originally titled "Young Love". o.O Meh, whatever.

This probably won't get updated too much anymore, because I have a zillion Tales of the Abyss oneshot ideas (If you haven't played that game, go do it. NOW.), and my main WIP!focus will be on my Kingdom Hearts fanfic. Sorry. (ducks low and covers head)


	10. to know why hope died

HOMG. What is this? This story's been updated after more than two years of alleged completion?

Well, I figured since I pretty much barged back into this fandom with my iPod Shuffle Challenge response, I should contribute more to this fic. That, and I wanted to show how my writing style had changed in the past two years. -sweatdrop-

**_Disclaimer_**- I do not own Warriors. If I did, this couple would not have ended the way it did, and Millie would have actually died of greencough in Long Shadows.

* * *

_I buried her by the shore. She loved the river._

That's what he tells Fireheart, anyway - just one of the many lies, half and full, he's had to spew out to his fellow ThunderClanner lately.

Graystripe doesn't mention all the parts that would undoubtedly pull some tears out of his eyes, had he that ability. As it is, all it does is drive a sharp claw into his heart and wrench it as it pulls out.

He doesn't mention that as he drags Silverstream's body down the riverbank - hating the way her silver-and-black tabby coat catches the mud along the shore and adds that mud to the blood already on her pelt, knowing how clean she kept it in life (and then cringing at referring, even now, to her life in the past tense); expecting her to leap up at any moment with a playful glow in those emerald eyes and flounce past him and say _I can go the rest of the way by myself, Graystripe_ - as he takes her to her last resting place, the icy leaf-bare wind buffets his fur and magnifies the sense of figurative and literal cold around him. He doesn't mention where, specifically, he lays her to rest; when he does, he deposits her at a bush along the ThunderClan-RiverClan boundary line, just by Sunningrocks (so symbolic of their relationship, though Graystripe's grief doesn't reach that little depth of thinking until much later that same night, when he can't sleep for wondering what he had done to deserve this). He doesn't mention how, with every kick of muddy dirt over her body, his heart gives a desperate, ragged yowl of protest, and panic surges through him - seems to say _wait, no, stop, she's still alive, stop this! _

He has never hated that little voice in the back of his mind more.

He also doesn't mention how, just before completing the deed, he deliberately leans down and inhales her mingled Clan scent one last time, trying to ignore the taste of blood on the roof of his mouth and just concentrate on her life-scent. Water mint and ice and fishy RiverClan.

If anyone had asked Graystripe what his favorite scent was, before all this had started - actually, he vaguely remembers Ravenpaw asking him that strange, random question in the sandy training hollow. Back then, the gray tom had laughed and said something stupid about the trees in greenleaf.

Things have changed. Now it's Silverstream.

_I buried her by the shore. She loved the river,_ he murmurs to Fireheart as he pads back to where the ginger tom waits. In response, Fireheart's green eyes - so like Silverstream's, and yet not; the tom's eyes lean more toward a grassy shade of green than the darkest green of pure newleaf leaves - soften, and he presses himself to Graystripe's side in what's supposed to be a gesture of silent comfort.

He can't help thinking that he has never needed such comfort more.

And yet it refuses to reach him.

The final thing he doesn't mention to Fireheart - the most poignant thing of all, that even now threatens to send those nonexistent tears to his eyes - is how when the ground now fully encloses the one she-cat he loves (_loved, _he corrects himself dully, and then wonders why he even bothers), when it fully hits him that death has extinguished her fire and life entirely - only at that moment does he bow his head and murmur _I'm sorry._

_I'm so, so sorry._

* * *

Dear God this is depressing. -facepalm- Doesn't really make much sense, since I'm not in a sad mood. Well, I sort of am now. And having **Shattered** by Trading Yesterday on super repeat didn't help matters AT ALL.

W-well, anywhozer, updates for this fic should be slightly less sporadic now. And less angsty. Let us not forget that.

I should probably add it to the WIP section on my profile...


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